Adjustable lamp stand



April 28 1970 S., P. MICHAILOV 0 ADJUSTABLE LAMP STAND Filed July 31, 1967 FIG. 3.

w mu m m C E m 9 WWW 0 T S United States Patent 3,509,334 ADJUSTABLE LAMP STAND Stoyan P. Michailov, Mikeloif Bros., 4514 San Fernando Road, Glendale, Calif. 91204 Filed July 31, 1967, Ser. No. 657,382 Int. Cl. F21s 1/12 U.S. Cl. 24081 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An industrial lamp stand having a pair of spaced 11prights for frictionally holding a horizontal member carrying plural lamps at a selected height. The uprights are curved forward at the tops for directing illumination downwardly rather than horizontally, if desired. Slots in brackets attached to the horizontal member engage the uprights with static friction because the weight of the horizontal member exerts a turning moment on the brackets. Plural horizontal elements space the uprights apart and are disconnectable for disassembly. A leg angles backward from each upright and casters on a lower horizontal element bear upon the floor for support. By slightly raising the legs the stand can be rolled from one place to another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to electric light stands, particularly for industrial use.

Drying paint by radiant heat from electric heat lamps is an accepted process in industry, of which automobile repainting is one example.

I In the prior art such lamps have been disposed in rather stationary banks or mounted individually or in closely arranged groups on lamp stands having a single upright. It has not been easy to quickly adjust the height of the lamps for drying a selected area, as upon the side of an auto body, nor, by means of the same stand, .to direct drying rays downwardly for drying relatively horizontal surfaces, such as a hood, trunk or top of an auto. Nor have portable stands been stable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By evolving a new structure for adjustably holding a plurality of lamps which employs a pair of uprights spaced by horizontal elements and supported by legs and casters the disadvantages of the prior art have been overcome. A horizontal member carries the lamps and is adjustably attached by brackets to the uprights such that the weight of the member and lamps hold these at any selected elevation on the uprights. By manually raising the horizontal member the frictional lock is removed and the operator can raise or lower the lamp group as desired.

By curving the top portions of the uprights forward, the member and the lamps are pointed downwardly at maximum elevations, thus for drying relatively horizontal surfaces. Elongated slots in the brackets allow the member to be positioned at an angle to the horizontal for dry- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a perspcetive front view of the adjustable lamp stand.

FIG. 2 shows a fragmentary rear view of the same, showing a bracket.

FIG. 3 shows a typical joint by means of which the stand can be disassembled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, numeral 1 identifies the left upright and numeral 2 the right upright. These are typically formed of hollow cylindrical steel tubing of /1 inch diameter, with a curved portion at the top of each for one-fifth the length having a radius of curvature of about 18". The stand can be made of any size, but an overall height of 44" is effective for automobile repainting. As a choice in construction the bottom of each upright is cut short and is met by one of the upwardly turned ends 3 or 4 of first horizontal element 5. Casters 6 and 7, or equivalent rotatable means, are mounted near the extremities of horizontal element 5.

At ends 3 and 4 and the bottoms of the uprights, and at subsequent equivalent junctures, rods 8 are secured within one of the tubular elements and a bolt 9 passed through a hole in rod 8, being secured with a nut 10. See FIG. 3. Such connections are strong, yet allow disassembly when required, as for shipment in a relatively small container from a factory, or for later shipment or storage.

Corresponding stub legs and stubs of a second horizontal element are formed from one piece of tubing 11 for upright 1 and 12 for upright 2. These stub pieces are welded to the upright involved at about one-third the height thereof.

Legs 14 and 15 are fitted into stubs 11 and 12, respectively, with the rod, bolt and nut fitments previously described. The length of the legs is such as to position the uprights leaning slightly to the back of the assembly. This establishes stable equilibrium although horizontal member 16 is forward of the uprights and is relatively heavy. The net length of the legs may be 17'', with the stub adding about 5".

In a similar manner of connection, the rearwardly extending left portion 17 of second horizontal element 18 fastens into left stub 11 and right portion 19 of element 18 fastens into right stub 12; both at the top of the stubs. Portions 17 and 19 may each have a length of the order of 10" and horizontal element 18 a lentgh of 49".

A third horizontal element 20 is provided between uprights 1 and 2 for rigidity. It extends directly between the uprights at the same elevation as the stubs and may have a length of 48".

In FIG. 2 bracket 23 is shown in coative relation to upright 1. Slot 24 is located near the rear edge of the horizontally disposed part of the bracket and may have an opening of x 2". The bracket has a width of 4", a horizontal depth of 3" and a vertical extent of 5". The latter is fastened directly to the rear of horizontal member 16, near the bottom of the vertical portion thereof. A plurality of bolts 25, with corresponding nuts or threads tapped in member 16, fasten the bracket to the member. A leaf spring 26 is preferably but not necessarily provided to bear against upright 1 and thereby to increase the frictional hold of the bracket to the upright. This prevents change of elevation of member 16 when the stand is moved. The spring has the same width as slot 24. Bolts 27 fasten the horizontal portion of the spring to the horizontal part of the bracket.

Typically, member 16 has a trough shape, with spaced sockets for a plurality of lamps 30, say a plurality of eight, disposed forwardly, to allow radiant energy from the lamps to fall upon the work. Known electrical connections connect the lamp sockets to a suitable electric cord 28, having a plug 29 for engaging a wall socket, or other source of electric power. The electrical connections may include switches for energizing only some of the lamps, as may be desired.

To adjust the height of the horizontal member carrying the lamps it is merely necessary to grasp the member and perhaps raise it slightly. It will then be found to slide up or down easily. Once positioned and ones hands removed, the weight of the member causes it to tilt slightly word, which frictionally locks it in place. When member 16 is elevated to the top of the uprights the lamps shine essentially downward. For positions somewhat below the top positon intermediate inclinations of the lamps can be obtained.

Because slots rather than holes are formed in brackets 23, it is possible to manually cant member 16 as much as perhaps 25 from the horizontal, so that one end is lower than the other. This allows drying an inclined portion of an essentially vertical surface. The canted position is indicated by dotted lines 31 outlining member 16 in FIG. 1.

An alternate embodiment may be of all-welded construction. Uprights 1 and 2 and horizontal element 5 are then all formed of one piece of tubing. Leg and horizontal elements 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 1-8 and 19 may also be formed of one piece of tubing, with welds at 11 and 12 to the uprights as before. Horizontal element 20 is welded to the uprights rather than being detachably fastened thereto as before.

While these embodiments have been related to the paint drying art, it will be seen that other drying and illuminating functions can also be performed without modification of the structure. For obtaining illumination it is only necessary to employ illuminating electric lamps rather than thermal (heat) lamps. Since a wide variety of lamps can be obtained with internal reflectors, the inside of trough horizontal member 16 may be reflective or not.

Two additional fields where the lamp stand is useful include industrial illumination and television or motion picture scene illumination. The stand has simplicity, versatility, light weight and maneuverability to recommend it to these fields.

Although this invention has been described in preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, this has only been by way of example. Various changes in size, proportion and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed below.

I claim:

1. An adjustable portable stand for supporting a plu- 4 izontal element, one adjacent to each of said uprights, to facilitate movement of said stand,

(e) a horizontal member to forwardly support said plurality of lamps, and

(f) a pair of brackets rearwardly external to said horizontal member, with one bracket engaging each said upright,

to adjustably vertically support said horizontal member upon said uprights.

2. An adjustable portable stand for supporting a plurality of lamps comprising;

(a) a pair of spaced uprights,

(b) a leg rigidly attached at an angle to each said upright to maintain said stand in an upright position,

(c) plural horizontal elements attached to said uprights to maintain said uprights in a spaced relation,

(d) a horizontal member to support said plurality of lamps,

(e) a pair of brackets external to said horizontal member with one said bracket engaging each said upright and each said bracket having a slot which frictionally engages a said upright,

whereby said horizontal member is retained at an elevation upon that upright to which it has been manually adjusted.

3. The stand of claim 2 which additionally includes;

(a) a leaf spring fastened to each said bracket,

which bears upon a said upright to increase the friction thereon.

4. The stand of claim 1 in, which;

(a) each said upright has a curved portion at the top which curves away from said leg,

whereby illumination fromsaid plurality of lamps is directed downward upon said horizontal member being vertically adjusted to the top of said uprights.

5. The stand of claim 1 in which;

(a) a second said horizontal element is attached to said uprights approximately midway vertically thereon, and

(b) said second horizontal element is formed to extend in the direction of said legs from said uprights,

whereby said stand may be moved by raising said second horizontal element to incrementally lift said legs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,057,776 10/ 1936 Groven 240-1.3 XR

973,685 10/ 1910 Moore.

2,104,072 1/ 1938 Carr.

2,418,283 4/1947 Wilson 219-524 3,108,828 10/ 1963 Kus 248- NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner L. H. MC CORMICK, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

